Hundreds of thousands of people live in fear of deportation in Colorado. Immigrants living illegally in the U.S. worry because deportation not only uproots your life but can hurt family members. It is possible to fight against deportation by showing that your family will greatly suffer if you were forced to leave the country.
If family members will experience extreme hardship then you could avoid deportation
According to a new policy established this year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can give immigrants who are illegally living in the U.S. for over a year an extreme hardship waiver based on undue hardship for family members. While losing your job, uprooting and separating your family are considered typical effects of deportation, an extreme hardship must go beyond these issues. Extreme hardship can affect your parents, siblings, and extended family members for many reasons.
Extreme hardship can mean that your family needs you here
Extreme hardship means that if you were deported then your family would suffer emotionally, physically and even financially. Most often the following circumstances do not apply to children of an immigrant, but rather other family members.
- Your family depends on you to financially support them here
- A relative is sick and relies on you for care
- You need to be here to take care of a relative’s children because they cannot afford child care
- They are sick and will not have access to proper medical care in your home country
- They do not speak your country of origin’s language
- Your family member will not be able to work in your home country
- Your relative has debt in the U.S. and cannot pay it off from your home country
